Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford said Tuesday he's confident he will be vindicated if he's accused of wrongdoing in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's inquiry into Jefferson County bond deals.

''The SEC did not give me my good name and character, and they can't take it away from me,'' Langford said in his first extensive public comments about being a target of separate criminal and civil investigations. He said he is frustrated over publicity about ongoing federal investigations.

''You don't have to be guilty of anything in this country to be indicted or attacked. That seems to be the way of this government right now,'' the mayor said after Tuesday's City Council meeting. ''I lose no sleep over it. Whatever they're going to do, they're going to do anyway.''

SEC lawyers have notified Langford, lobbyist Al LaPierre and Montgomery banker Bill Blount that one or all could be named in civil lawsuits claiming improper conduct related to the Jefferson County financial deals that occurred under Langford's tenure at the county.

Langford used Blount as a financial adviser for the county deals. Blount, who received nearly $2.6 million for his role in the deals, employed LaPierre during some of that time. LaPierre has argued he was not paid for county government work.

SEC investigators questioned Langford's financial ties to both men, including $150,000 from LaPierre in 2003 that Langford said last year was a loan that had not been repaid.

Langford said he voluntarily took a polygraph test and offered the results to the SEC, which he said showed he answered truthfully when saying he had not used his office for personal gain.

''Regardless of what they asked me, I passed it. And they know that,'' Langford said.

Langford said he has been frustrated by media reports detailing parts of the SEC investigation, including his July testimony before the commission's lawyers. He said some of the reports are based on limited information and make him appear corrupt.

Private charities
''My whole life has been put out in the public,'' he said.

''Name me another official that's been put under that type of scrutiny.''

Among the areas under federal investigation are private charities Langford controls that received hundreds of thousands of dollars from vendors doing county and Fairfield business when he served in those governments. Langford's involvement in a direct-sales company also is under investigation, including sales he made to county vendors and others he recruited for the sales business to help him make money.

''So I'm being attacked for working hard?'' Langford asked.

He said he went to Miami last year to meet with SEC lawyers and to answer their questions.

''I voluntarily went down there, thinking they wanted the truth. That's not what they wanted. It was already pre-conceived before I ever walked in the door,'' he said. ''Sooner or later, it's going to come out in this community who's behind this.''